Went down a U.S. Open Final Qualifying rabbit hole and couldn’t get out for days …
It’s been seven springs since the 2018 Ivy League Championship was held at Stonewall’s Old Course on a cold, cold, and, of course, windy, weekend in April.
James Nicholas, a junior from Scarsdale, N.Y. and his Yale teammate Eoin Leonard, a junior from England, finished at the top of the individual leaderboard and Nicholas prevailed in a playoff to claim the Ivy League’s individual crown.
More importantly, Nicholas and Leonard led the way as Yale wrested the Ivy League’s team crown away from two-time defending champion Harvard.
I had seen the James Nicholas name pop up on some PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour leaderboards in the last couple of years and wondered if it was the same guy. You’re thinking, nah, a Yalie would just move on to a six-figure job and get on with life rather than fight the good fight of trying to make it on the PGA Tour.
But the one and the same James Nicholas put together two solid rounds, a 3-under-par 67 in the morning at Canoe Brook Country Club’s South Course in Summit, N.J. and a 4-under 68 in the afternoon at Canoe Brook’s North Course, to capture medalist honors in Final Qualifying for next week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh’s immediate suburbs.
Yes, Monday was Golf’s Longest Day with 36-hole – they used to call them sectional qualifiers – tests going on all over the country with way too many survivors of local qualifiers battling for a precious few berths in the field for the U.S. Open.
To peruse the lists of competitors teeing it up in Final Qualifying for the U.S. Open is to get an idea of how many really, really good players are out there – PGA Tour regulars, major champions, Korn Ferry guys, PGA Tour Champions veterans, LIV Golf guys, club pros, immensely talented college kids and mid-ams.
Heck, a 17-year-old kid from Thomasville, Ga., Mason Howell, threw up a couple of nine-under 63s at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, Ga. to get a share of medalist honors at that site with a 16-under 126 total. How good is that?
Howell’s accomplishment even got him a mention on David Muir’s ABC national newscast Tuesday night along with Matt Vogt, a dentist from Indianapolis, Ind., via Seneca Valley High School outside of Pittsburgh, who captured medalist honors with a pair of 4-under 68s at Wine Valley Golf Club in Walla Walla, Wash.
Turns out Vogt, who finished in fourth place in the 2008 PIAA Championship at the Heritage Hills Golf Resort in York County as a senior at Seneca Valley, was an Oakmont looper as a kid. You think he’ll be getting a few interview requests from the Pittsburgh area media?
Really good story on the James Gang, Nicholas and Ben James, the Milford, Conn. native who was battling it out for Virginia in the NCAA Championship’s Final Match a week ago at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif., by David Shefter for the USGA’s website.
Back-to-back birdies on the sixth and seventh holes at the North Course enabled James to record a 2-under 70 in the afternoon at the North Course to go with his opening round of 3-under 67 on the South Course and grab the last of the four available berths to Oakmont with a 5-under 137 total.
Nicholas has patiently worked his way up the professional golf ladder, spending some time on the DP World Tour before landing a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025.
Needless to say, a tee time for the U.S. Open at Oakmont will be the biggest moment of his professional career, at least up to this point.
Chris Gotterup, a native of Little Silver, N.J., and Roberto Diaz of Mexico finished in a tie for second place and punched their tickets to Oakmont, each landing on 6-under 136.
Gotterup began his college career at Rutgers and moved on the Oklahoma, where he was the winner of the Fred Haskins Award as the top player in college golf during the wraparound 2021-2022 season for a very good Sooners team.
Pretty sure this is Gotterup’s first full year on the PGA Tour after a breakthrough win in the Myrtle Beach Classic in 2024. It’s just a matter of time before the immensely talented Gotterup starts showing up on PGA Tour leaderboards.
After opening with a 1-under 71 at the North Course at Canoe Brook, Gotterup, back in his home state, ripped off a sparkling 5-under 65 in the afternoon on the South Course.
Diaz, who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, opened with a 5-under 65 of his own on the South Course before adding a 1-under 71 on the North Course in the afternoon.
James’ late birdies dashed the hopes of getting a shot in a playoff for Garrett Engle, the Harrisburg kid who just wrapped up his college career at Tennessee Chattanooga.
Engle, who emerged from the Golf Association of Philadelphia-administered local qualifier at the Country Club of York, never participated in the PIAA postseason during his high school days at Central Dauphin. After a year at Oklahoma, he transferred to Tennessee Chattanooga, where he flourished with the Moccasins. Engle reached the round of 16 in last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minn.
Engle opened with a 3-under 69 at Canoe Brook’s North Course and added a 1-under 69 at the South Course to finish in a foursome tied for fifth place, a shot behind James at 4-under 138.
Hard to believe it’s been 12 years since Brandon Matthews, Temple’s best player back then, waited it out as a U.S. Open alternate at Merion Golf Club’s West Course, utilized as the range for the 2013 U.S. Open at the nearby East Course in the cramped quarters in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township. A spot never opened for Matthews, the 2010 PIAA Class AAA champion as a junior at Pittston.
Matthews, a PGA Tour player trying to work his way back from back issues, earned a spot in the field at Canoe Brook out of the GAP-administered local qualifier at Huntsville Golf Club.
Matthews played well, but not good enough at Canoe Brook. After opening with a 2-under 68 at the South Course, Matthews added a 1-under 71 at the North Course for a 3-under 139 total.
Stewart Hagestad, who won the first of his three U.S. Mid-Amateur titles at Stonewall nine years ago, came up short at Canoe Brook as he struggled a little in a 1-over 73 at the North Course in the morning before adding a 2-under 68 in the afternoon at the South Course for a 1-under 141 total.
Evan Brown, who starred scholastically at Kennett, was the medalist in the local qualifier at Huntsville. He opened with a solid 3-under 67 at Canoe Brook’s South Course before struggling a little with a 4-over 76 in the afternoon at the North Course for a 1-over 143 total. Brown, who finished up his college career at Mississippi after starring at Loyola of Maryland, has some status on the Korn Ferry Tour.
GAP’s report on the Huntsville qualifier is worth digging up if you’re looking for a more detailed update on the professional golf journeys of Matthews and Brown.
Alex Pillar, who also came through the Huntsville qualifier, opened with a 3-over 75 at Canoe Brook’s North Course before adding a 1-under 69 at the South Course for a 2-over 144 total.
Pillar is following in the footsteps of his dad, John Pillar, the director of golf at the Country Club at Woodloch Springs and one of the Philadelphia Section PGA’s top senior players. Alex Pillar is an assistant pro at Sunningdale Country Club in Scarsdale, N.Y.
One of the Philadelphia Section’s most talented players, Trevor Bensel, who is working at Clubhouse 54, emerged from the GAP-administered local qualifier at Laurel Creek Country Club.
Bensel opened with a 1-over 73 at Canoe Brook’s North Course before adding a 6-over 76 at the South Course in the afternoon.
Bensel’s life got a little bit easier the day after Memorial Day when he captured the title in the Haverford Philadelphia PGA Classic and its $100,000 top prize at Sunnybrook Golf Club.
Luke Sample, who wrapped up his college career at Duke this spring, was the medalist in the local qualifier at Laurel Creek. The winner of the Metropolitan Golf Association’s Open Championship while still a junior golfer in 2020, Sample matched par in the morning with a 70 at Canoe Brook’s South Course before adding an even-par 72 at the North Course for an even-par 142 total.
Ryan McCormick, a native of Middletown, N.J. who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, earned medalist honors in Final Qualifying at Woodmont Country Club’s North Course in Rockville, Md. as he put up back-to-back 5-under 66s for a 10-under 132 total.
Trevor Cone, another Korn Ferry Tour player from Charlotte, N.C., also earned a spot in the field in the U.S. Open as he added a 3-under 68 in the afternoon to his opening round of 2-under 69 that left him five shots behind McCormick with a 5-under 137 total.
Amateur Bryan Lee, another member of the Virginia team that reached the NCAA Championship’s Final Match at La Costa, and Australian Marc Leishman, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour before joining LIV Golf, grabbed the final two spots in a playoff that also included Colombia’s Sebastian Munoz, another player who left the PGA Tour behind for LIV Golf, after the trio landed on 3-under 139.
Lee, a native of Fairfax, Va. who just completed his senior season at UVA, and Leishman had the same splits, each adding a 2-under 69 in the afternoon at Woodmont after opening with a 1-under 70.
Eric Beringer, a touring pro who lists Philadelphia as his home town, added a 2-over 73 in the afternoon to his opening round of 1-over 72 for a 3-over 145 total.
Alex Creamean, coming off a solid sophomore season at Penn State after transferring from Bucknell, matched par in the morning at Woodmont with a 71 before adding a 4-over 75 in the afternoon for a 4-over 146 total. Creamean is a native of Winnetka, Ill.
Stephen Cerbara, the 2015 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Holy Ghost Prep, added a 4-over 75 in the afternoon to his opening round of 6-over 77 for a 153 total. Cerbara, a touring pro, finished up his college career at Drexel.
Hunter Stetson, a scholastic standout at Episcopal Academy coming off a solid freshman season at North Carolina State, added a 6-over 77 to his opening round of 7-over 78 for a 155 total.
Nick Turowski, a scholastic standout at Penn Trafford coming off his freshman season at West Virginia, struggled to an 81 in the opening round at Woodmont before adding a 5-over 76 in the afternoon for a 157 total.
Alex Blickle, winner of the Pennsylvania Open in 2021 at Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course who calls Reading home these days, struggled in the opening round at Woodmont with an 83 before adding a 79 in the afternoon for a 162 total.
Like Engle, Blickle earned his spot in the field at Woodmont out of the GAP-administered local qualifier at the Country Club of York.
The presence of quite a few PGA Tour regulars in the field for Final Qualifying at the Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club in Columbus, Ohio battling for six spots in the field for the U.S. Open made that site the most intriguing.
Erik Van Rooyen, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour from South Africa, ran away with medalist honors at Kinsale as he opened with a sizzling 8-under 64 and added a 5-under 67 in the afternoon for a 13-under total that was six shots clear of a trio tied for second place at 7-under 137.
Among that trio at 7-under was Bud Cauley, who is finally bouncing back this year from the many injuries he suffered in a car accident he was involved in after missing the cut at The Memorial in 2018.
Cauley added a 4-under 68 in the afternoon to his opening round of 3-under 69, probably pretty close to the anniversary of the accident that changed his life.
I try to do a yearly update of the members of the 2009 United States Walker Cup team that defeated Great Britain & Ireland at Merion Golf Club’s iconic East Course, an event I was fortunate enough to cover in a past life in the newspaper business.
Cauley was on that team and his contemporaries swear by his talent. I’ll certainly be rooting for him at Oakmont.
Joining Cauley at 7-under were a couple other PGA Tour regulars, Lanto Griffin of Blacksburg, Va., and Justin Lower of Akron, Ohio.
Griffin matched Cauley’s splits, adding a 4-under 68 in the afternoon to an opening round of 3-under 69. Lower opened with a 4-under 68 before adding a 3-under 69 in the afternoon.
There was drama at Kinsale as Cameron Young, the talented PGA Tour regular, birdied the first hole of a playoff among five players vying for the final ticket to Oakmont. They had all finished in a tie for sixth place at 5-under 139.
Among those eliminated when Young’s birdie putt fell were Cauley’s teammate on that 2009 U.S. Walker Cup team, Rickie Fowler, Eric Cole and Max Homa, who had received a lot of attention Monday by carrying his bag after recently splitting with his regular caddy.
Howell, the Georgia teen who went off in Final Qualifying at the Piedmont Driving Club in Atlanta, wasn’t the only player to put up twin 9-under 63s.
Howwell had to share medalist honors with Jackson Buchanan of Dacula, Ga. who just completed a standout college career at Illinois and matched Howard’s pair of 63s at Piedmont. Buchanan reached the semifinals of last summer’s U.S. Amateur at Hazeltine National.
Carson Bacha, the 2019 PIAA Class AAA champion at Central York who has been a fixture in the lineup for a powerful Auburn team the last few years, failed to get out of the Piedmont Final Qualifier, despite an 8-under 136 total. Bacha added a 5-under 67 in the afternoon to his opening round of 4-under 68.
Bacha’s talented Auburn teammate, Jackson Koivun of Chapel Hill, N.C., did earn a spot in the field for the U.S. Open as he added a sizzling 8-under 64 in the afternoon to his opening round of 3-under 69 to finish in a tie for third place with an 11-under 133 total.
Looks like Koivun, No. 2 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), might be thinking of remaining an amateur and playing another year at Auburn. We’ll see.
Howell isn’t even the biggest name in junior golf. That would be Miles Russell, the 16-year-old phenom from Jacksonville Beach.
Russell just missed making it to Oakmont as he matched par in the afternoon in Final Qualifying at the Duke University Golf Club in Durham, N.C. with a 70 after opening with a 68 for a 2-under 138 total. Russell is the first alternate, however.
The second alternate out of the Duke University site is PGA Tour regular Webb Simpson, a U.S. Open winner in 2012 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. After opening with a 2-over 72, Simpson rallied with a 4-under 66 in the afternoon, but came up just short.
The medalist at Duke was former Oklahoma State standout Zach Bauchou of Forest, Va. as he closed with a sizzling 6-under 64 for a 5-under 135 total. Bachou, a teammate of Viktor Hovland and Matthew Wolff on the Cowboys’ 2018 national championship team, had opened with a 1-over 71.
Golf’s Longest Day lasted two days in the Final Qualifier at Emerald Downs Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla. as rain halted play Monday and forced the qualifier to leak into Tuesday.
None of which bothered Justin Hicks, an instructor at Stonebridge Golf & Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla. who shared medalist honors with former LSU standout Phillip Barbaree Jr. and amateur Frankie Harris, a Boca Raton resident coming off his junior season at South Carolina, the trio landing on 11-under 133 total.
Hicks opened with a sparkling 7-under 65 before adding a 4-under 68 in the second round. He will be teeing it up in his second major championship of 2025 after earning a spot on the Colebridge Financial Team for last month’s PGA Championship at the Quail Hollow Club by finishing in a tie for ninth place in the PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
Barbaree closed with a sizzling 8-under 63 after opening with a 3-under 69. Harris opened with a 6-under 66 before adding a 5-under 67.
Neal Shipley, the Pittsburgh guy who was the low amateur at The Masters and in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst in 2024, came up short in his bid to get a spot in the field at Oakmont, where he was a looper for three years.
Shipley, a Korn Ferry Tour regular, opened with a 1-under 71 at Emerald Downs before adding a 2-over 74 that left him with a 1-over 145 total.
In the Final Qualifier at Springfield Country Club, Grant Haeffner, a collegiate standout at Wayne State before finishing up at Jacksonville, claimed medalist honors with a 7-under 133 total.
Haeffner added a sparkling 5-under 65 in the second round to his opening round of 2-under 68.
Zac Blair, a touring pro from Orem, Utah, survived a playoff among four players for the final ticket to Oakmont out of Springfield after posting a pair of 2-under 68s for a 4-under 136 total.
Blair’s keen interest in golf course architecture brought him to the Old Course at Stonewall several years ago to take a closer look at a layout that established Tom Doak as one of the best young golf course design guys 30 or so years ago.
There was a Final Qualifying in Canada at the Lambton Golf & Country Club in Ontario and PGA Tour rookie Kevin Velo of Danville, Calif. was the medalist, opening with a 5-under 65 and adding a 3-under 67 in the afternoon for an 8-under 132 total.
A notable name that failed to earn a spot in the field at Oakmont was Luke Clanton, who recently completed his junior season at Florida State and has been No. 1 in the WAGR for the last year.
Clanton of Hialeah, Fla. matched par in the opening round with a 70 before adding a 2-over 72 in the afternoon for a 2-over 142 total.
Clanton left his glittering amateur career behind as he made his professional debut this week in the Canadian Open and failed to make the cut.
Preston Summerhays, who recently completed his senior season at Arizona State and is No. 13 in the WAGR, was the medalist in the Final Qualifying at Valencia Country Club in Valencia, Calif. as he closed with a sizzling 8-under 63 for a 10-under 132 total.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Summerhays of the golfing Summerhays family of Scottsdale, Ariz. turns pro sometime soon.
Which brings us to Vogt, the Indianapolis dentist and former Oakmont looper, in the Final Qualifying at Walla Walla Golf Club.
There were only two spots available at Walla Walla and Vogt, with his pair of 4-under 68s, got one of them and is preparing for a U.S. Open homecoming at Oakmont.
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